The Valentine Bandit
Covering Portland with love is an annual doing for one city dweller.
Jessica Tomlinson
The Valentine Bandit covers Portland with hearts each February 14.
Jessica Tomlinson
Portland is a small town where it is hard to keep a secret. However there is one secret that still remains a mystery: Who is the Valentine’s Bandit who canvasses the city with red hearts every February 14th? Each year, someone (and most likely some helpers) tape up white sheets of paper with red hearts throughout the city. No surface is safe. Store windows, cars, doors and lamp-posts are all targets. In recent years, the Bandit has super-sized his (her?) love for Portland by unfurling an enormous banner in a new location each time. Once it hung off the Portland Museum of Art roof, another time it was the Gulf of Maine Research Institute and once, off a crane in the harbor.
How is it is that this person or group of persons can remain anonymous? I think it is because we want very much to believe in the mystery. Knowing who does it would take away from the magic. The act, while time consuming, is simple. Everyone can read into it what they want. It is untainted, pure. In a world driven by strategic marketing messages and consumerism, this love is not for sale.
I like to imagine the Bandit, in the wee hours of the night, methodically taping away while a policeman cruising by witnesses the action. The policemen smiles and keeps driving. The bandit steals nothing. In fact, he is giving something. This crime of the heart does not end up on the police blotter.
Rumors abound about the Bandit’s identity. When a lead gets hot, the person in question always denies it. Interestingly enough, it is rarely the same suspect. We do know that this has been happening for about 20 years. The Bandit is aging and more prolific so more helpers must have been recruited to execute the mission.
There is another bandit in Montpelier, Vermont who has been at it for ten years. This year, someone in Portsmouth put out a posting on Craig’s List asking the Portland Bandit for advice on how to start a similar campaign in Portsmouth.
As for what it means for Portland, it is part of our local lore. It is a bright spot in the middle of winter that defines the people and the place. Given the chance to find out who’s behind it, I would say, “no thanks.” I know what I need to know. I know that people look forward to it and it brings them joy. That’s plenty.
For more information on The Valentine’s Bandit, click here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentine_Bandit
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Reader Comments:
You are always my valentine.